Programme: Recovery and Resilience Plan

Medicinal plants are a source of biologically active substances (BAS), which are widely used in the development of medicines, cosmetics, functional foods and food supplements. In order to be used, these substances must be extracted from the plant material by a suitable method. Organic solvents (especially ethanol) are still the most widely used for industrial production of plant extracts, which necessitates the search for "more ecological" and "green" extragents and extraction methods. Subcritical extraction (SCE) could be successfully used as a "green" alternative to ethanol to obtain plant extracts standardized by BAS content. The technology shows similar and even higher efficiency than conventional hydroalcoholic extraction methods, obtaining comparable and even higher yields of dry extract using only water, and in the current project this will be tested for the first time with glycerol. Based on this conclusion, we also formulated the main goal of the project, which is the development (up to TRL-7) of 2 product innovations representing plant extracts standardized in terms of BAS by using subcritical extraction with water and aqueous glycerol solutions. Achieving the goal is based on an integrated scientific approach, including research into the possibilities of using SCE for the development of innovative products. This implies the use of a multidisciplinary approach, requiring the conduct of phytochemical, technological, biological, toxicological and microbiological studies. For this reason, the implementation of the project will be carried out by two organizations - IOCCP-BAS and IMB-BAS. Project implementation indicators include: 2 product innovations with TRL-7, being a dry and liquid extracts obtained by SCE; 2 scientific publications in Q1/Q2 open access issues and 1 application for a European patent for the protection of intellectual property.